Listen up, folks! 📢

Are you tired of feeling like a tiny fish lost in the vast ocean of online searches?  Do you dream of watching your business rise through the ranks and reach a wider audience?  Well, hold onto your hats because I’ve got just the solution for you! 

Meet Faith Hanan, a content marketing and SEO authority who truly gets it. She’s here to share her insider insights on the power of keyword research, and let me tell you, this stuff is gold. 💰 With Faith’s expert guidance, your business can finally break through the noise and connect with your target audience. 

No more wasting time and energy on ineffective social media campaigns or draining your budget on pricey advertising. Faith will show you how to strategically navigate the world of keywords and unlock the untapped potential of your brand. So, get ready to take your business to new heights and leave your competition in the dust! 💨

Join us as Faith Hanan reveals the secrets of SEO success and empowers you to make your mark in the digital landscape. It’s time to stop swimming aimlessly and start making waves. 🌊

Let’s dive into the world of keyword research together and watch your business thrive! 🙌

Wow, what a ride! Thank you, thank you, thank you to the one and only Faith Hanan for sharing her genius with us. 🤩

I mean, just look at Molly – she was struggling to grow her blog, but after taking Faith’s course, she’s feeling confident and efficient about creating content and reaching new audiences. And if you’re an entrepreneur or small business owner, that could be you too!

That’s why I’ve partnered with Faith to invite you to her Organic Marketing Framework course. This is the real deal, folks – no magic tricks, just solid strategy.

I’ve personally taken the course and let me tell you, it’s a game-changer. Faith teaches you all the tools you need to succeed and helps you stay focused on what really matters for your business.

So go ahead and check it out. You won’t regret it! Thank you again to Faith for sharing her wide breadth of knowledge around content marketing, organic marketing, and SEO Keyword Research. It’s been a blast! 😎

You can grab Faith’s SEO freebie here. Want to get in touch with her? You can check her out on her podcast.

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First… 4 Ways to Speak to the Emotional Side of the Decision-Making Brain 

Perhaps you’ve heard of *the Harvard study that showed that 95% of our decisions are driven by our subconsciouses? Well one of the languages that our subconscious speaks fluently is emotion. So when we elicit emotions, we can be much more effective at selling. 

(BTW, keep in mind that when we’re building a brand, we’re always selling to humans… Yes! Even if you have a B2B business, it’s still humans making the buying decisions! So we need to understand how humans make choices when buying, right?) 

So here are four proven ways to tap into that emotional side of things… 

1. Speak to their pain – and the pleasure they desire. 

One way to elicit the all-important emotional response in our buyers is to acknowledge the pain that they may be feeling or experiencing – and/or the pleasure that they desire. 

Here’s the reason this works so dang well… 

Throughout our lives as humans, we’re basically engaged in a constant ‘back and forth.’ We’re trying to move away from pain, and move toward pleasure. It’s proven. We are wired to seek pleasure and avoid pain. (<<< Nerdy psychology article if you care to go deeper! 🤓) 

And your brand can speak both of those languages (pleasure and pain).  

By demonstrating that you truly understand your audience’s pains and want they want for themselves, you build trust. And when they relate, your audience tends to infer that – if you understand their pain points – you can also help solve them. 

One really powerful technique for this is what my team likes to call, “joining the conversation in her head.” This means you describe very specific (I mean VERY SPECIFIC…) circumstances that feel very familiar to your ideal client. You paint a vivid picture of how she feels in that situation. Here are a couple of examples:

“Wouldn’t it be amazing to be able to plunk whatever groceries you want right down on the checkout belt at Whole Foods – without a care for where your next coaching client (paycheck!) is coming from? Here’s how to get clients on repeat – and achieve that kind of success and financial freedom in your business…” 

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“Remember that cruise you went on solo last year? And that couple who sat at your dinner table? They laughed at something on her phone. They shared french fries. They finished each other’s sentences while talking about where they’d visited on their last cruise… Sigh. I get it. You yearn for a partner with whom to share those experiences. And you know online dating could bring that person into your life, but it’s intimidating. Well I can help you navigate it – and help you find your person!” 

See the powerful specificity here? ☝🏽 Even if your prospect didn’t literally see someone sharing french fries… she still recognizes the experience and it feels VERY familiar. Because it’s specific. 

(Note: While some brand-builders may shy away from appearing to “twist the knife,” the reality is that humans do tend to be more motivated to move away from pain – than toward pleasure. But if it feels off-brand for you to focus on the pain, you can lean more toward presenting the pleasure side.

But remember, selling is serving. We need to motivate our ideal clients to take action – so we can help them get the results they truly want.) 

Okay now on to strategy #2, which is to… 

2. Align your brand with the *identity* they have or desire. 

The second way to draw out emotion is to demonstrate that your brand fits in with *WHO* the people in your audience want to be. 

For example, there’s a whole suite of products in the luxury sector (Think: Rolex watches, Lamborghinis, Louis Vuitton luggage…) that do this really, really effectively. Many people buy from these brands – not because their products actually function better – but because they identify with what the brands stand for. Luxury. Abundance. Wealth. 

Some who identify with this are already wealthy – and on some level they want that to be known. Others just desire wealth, and owning the “it bag” or the luxe car helps them feel connected to that. 

As a brand-builder, it’s really powerful to ask yourself, “What is the identity of my ideal client now? And what does he want to change or improve about his life? What does he aspire to?” 

In my own brand, my ideal clients are entrepreneurs. They desire to be both successful and aligned as business owners. That means doing work that is earning them real, meaningful amounts of money. (They want to run businesses that aren’t “just a hobby,” but rather contribute to and support their families.) At the same time, they want to be doing work that is squarely in their unique zones of genius. And they want to have impact in a way that’s meaningful and important to them. 

So that intersection of meaning and money is the identity that my ideal clients hold for themselves. They are either at that point right now – or they’re aspiring to get there. 

Your homework: Think about ways that you can either confirm that identity or help your audience step into that “next level” of themselves. Do this well and you’ll be speaking dead straight to that emotional decision-making center of your buyers’ brains. 

Okay ready for #3…? 

3. Infuse emotional images, words, and ideas into your messages.

This one may seem sort of like I’m “defining the word with the word itself” 🤣 but allow me to expand. 

If we can literally portray genuinely emotional situations in our brand messages (and ideally surprise and delight our audience with that emotion!) we are winning. 

Because by exposing them to the stimuli that trigger those feelings, we’ll evoke those very same emotions in our audience – the ones they must feel to truly connect to us. 

Maybe we evoke wonder, surprise, or compassion. Or maybe it’s a warm fuzzy feeling of togetherness. Or in some cases, a more edgy brand might even spark disgust or anger in its messages. All of these things – especially when it’s not what your client was expecting – create an emotional response, right? 

And that emotional response can motivate us into action – and/or shape our perceptions of a certain issue, product, or brand. 

So how does this show up, practically speaking? 

We can include really cute puppies or babies in our marketing messages – if we want to tickle some of those emotional centers. (Puppies and babies for the win! 🤣) We can put relationships on display. We can include music that underscores the corresponding feelings. Or we can just do something kind of weird and off the wall to create a little bit of that surprise and delight… the possibilities are endless. 

As I write this, I can’t help but think of some of my favorite ads… those that expertly draw out specific feelings. So, I’m going to link you to a few Youtube videos to inspire you. 

(Hey though… First, promise me you won’t get lost down a Youtube rabbit hole? 🤨 Okay cool. Come on back to this article after you watch these…) 

• This one from Samsung puts a special relationship in the spotlight – and we feel connected. 
• This one from Always pisses us off – and we feel motivated to be better – and be part of a solution. 
• This one from Audi sure is unexpected. It’s hilarious and surprising – and it makes us re-think some things. 

So good, right? (I’m not crying, you’re crying!) Okay on to the last of the four “emotional” strategies… 

4. Tell stories about individual humans.

The fourth way to add more of this all-important emotional resonance to your brand is to tell stories about individual people. 

This technique is also rooted in science – specifically in psychology. Studies have shown that listening to stories prompts the release of the neurochemical called oxytocin. (It literally sparks trust and familiarity!) And science also shows us that hearing stories triggers the same areas of our brains to light right up – as if we were experiencing the events of the stories first-hand. 

So, in other words… Stories really do elicit emotions in us. 

And here’s the real key to this… Tell stories about specific humans! 

Don’t just tell us you’ve worked with “hundreds of clients,” or have ”thousands of happy customers.” Tell individual stories about some of your best clients or customers. This is the way to create very emotional responses in your audience. 

So tell us about the client who tripled her revenue in two years – and was able to retire her husband from his very physically-demanding job that was putting him in danger. (We’ll be in awe, feel fiercely protective, and want those kinds of results for our families.) 

Tell us about your Aunt Mildred who started a second career at age 57. (We’ll relate and feel deeeeep in our bones that it’s never too late to do something new!) 

Tell us how you lost your job – and then decided to start your business. (We’ll feel the heat rise in our own faces when your boss lets you go. And we’ll also feel the triumph right along with you – when you describe the moment you hit “file” on that LLC paperwork.”) 

Of course, I too loooooove to tell stories in my brand…

In this article about how I got back on track after a biiiigggggg slump, I interwove a few significant ones from my own business and life. 

(One story finds me in a cramped hotel room feeling sorry for myself. 😂 Another story finds me triumphantly waving a flag on Everest base camp…yes, seriously! And yet a third story details how I emerged from said hotel-room-induced slump – and had my best quarter ever…This particular set of stories continues to be one of the most powerful ones that I leverage in my brand.)

So yeah. Story sells! 

So those are four powerful ways to turn up the emotion in your brand – so people are more likely to pay attention – and buy from you! 

Now let’s turn to the other side of the coin, shall we? Read on, because we’re headed over to the left side of the brain… 

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4 Ways to Speak to the Logical Side (& Seal the deal!)

Once someone makes an emotional connection with your brand, they still desire logic and facts to fully trust you – and to feel good about their decision to buy. So we don’t want to completely leave out the “left-brained reasons” to believe in your brand!

(Fun fact: Humans usually seek the logical rationale that they need to feel good about the buying decision riiiiiiiiiight before they make that final commitment… Right before they hit that ‘buy button’ or pull out their credit card. This is why you’ll often see expert marketers place stats, testimonials, etc. right on or near the checkout page!) 

So let’s talk about four ways that you can speak to that logical side… so that your ideal clients or customers can back up that emotional decision they just made.

1. Cite statistics, numbers and/or research. 

To reinforce what a good and safe decision this is (and to seal the deal!), it’s a great idea to include research, statistics or numbers that demonstrate your points. Our brains perceive things that are quantifiable as very concrete – and they help amp up the trust factor. 

Have there been scientific studies that prove that meditation will touch and improve every aspect of your life? Cite them on your meditation course’s sales page. 

Do you have a ‘4.92 out of 5’ rating on a well-known e-commerce site? Yes! Use that! 

You know the average user of your product saves 28% on their energy bill in the first three months? Amazing. Don’t leave that out! 

Has a respected scientist or celebrity endorsed what you’re selling? (Even if it wasn’t you specifically, they’ve endorsed your industry or your type of product, so you’re good.)

These very tangible and measurable stats – and/or trusted, validated third-party evidence – will help your buyer feel great about their decision to pull the trigger and buy!  

2. Highlight features and deliverables. 

Guess what? NOW you get to really showcase those features and deliverables. 

In the beginning, when we’re first connecting with new potential buyers, the number of modules your course has just isn’t going to hook them in. But now, when they’re about to buy, it’s reassuring to know there are eight modules – not just two. 🤓 So now it’s time to fill in those details as needed. 

Or maybe one of your product’s features is that it’s 100% vegan, organic and/or GMO-free. It’s time to present that info. 

(I know I personally can recall thinking to myself… “Oh good. AND it’s even organic. Now I feel extra good about adding it to the cart!) 

If you’re running a service-based business, this is the time to talk about what the client is actually going to get when they invest. What are the actual deliverables that make up your service? (Five posts a week? Two hours of engagement activity?)  It’s probably not the feel-good thing that your ideal client is truly driven by, but she still wants to know what she’s getting for her money. So tell her!  

Okay, on to another powerful way to speak to the logical side… 

3. Remove risk (or perceived risk).  

Again, to finalize the sales, your buyer needs to feel this is a smart decision – and a *safe* one! You can remove perceived risk – and therefore encourage the commitment – in a variety of ways. 

You can demonstrate previous results. (This one can work really well in conjunction with telling stories, as discussed above!) Tell success stories – yours or those of past clients. Include testimonials that showcase the outcomes your product or program deliver. Show what’s possible! 

Offering some type of guarantee can also go a loooooong way in making the investment feel super-safe. If it’s a product, clearly state your return policy. In internet marketing land 😉, you can offer a 30-day money-back guarantee on a course or a program. 

(One sort of famous example of this is the online course that offers to double your money if you aren’t happy. That might be a bit extreme – and clearly would work better in certain situations over others – but you get the gist!) 

The bottom line is that most people need that reassurance… They need to know that the decision they’re about to make is a safe one. And when we can help them feel it is, it will lead to more conversions and sales. 

And, finally… 

4. Demonstrate ROI (Return on Investment) 

The last way (for now anyway!) of adding more logic into the equation – and to reassure our ideal client – is to demonstrate the return on investment. 

Yup. All hail ROI. 🙌🏽 🙌🏽 🙌🏽 

It’s really the thing that most people truly seek when considering a purchase. And it’s a mistake to assume that your audience will “calculate” that ROI themselves. 

We really need to spell it out. (Errr, umm, I mean add it up for them. 🤓) 

We need this to become a very logical equation. We want your prospect to think, “Okay, yes, I’m spending this money, but I’m going to get so much more value from it than the actual dollar amount that I am investing.” So communicate that ROI in any way that you can. 

For example, I remember one particular testimonial from my popular Brand Advantage program. A coach who got into action during TBA signed three 1:1 coaching clients – because of the visibility she was creating with us! (That was three clients signed for $3600.00 packages… So more than $10K revenue resulted from her $497 investment in the program! 🎉) 

Or perhaps you sell an e-book about extreme couponing. (So fun!) If a buyer saved $1,170.00 in the first 60 days – after buying your $47.00 ebook… that savings is also a type of ROI. 

Finally, you also have the option of communicating the value of your offer – compared to other options that your ideal client could choose instead. 

What if he hired a one-on-one consultant – instead of DIY-ing it by following your course? Or what would it cost for him to go to a university and learn the same material? Chances are, you can make comparisons. Point out the difference in ROI – as compared to substitute offers, competitor offers, or even with taking no action at all. 

So there you have them: four emotional ways *and* four logical ways that you can increase people’s trust and willingness to buy into (and from!) your brand. 

To recap… 

You can tap into the emotional part of the equation by… 

✔️ Speaking to the pain and the pleasure

✔️ Aligning your brand and messages with the identity your audience desires 

✔️ Infuse everything with emotional images, words, ideas… 

✔️ Tell stories about specific humans! 

And don’t ignore the logical side of our brains. Consider these strategies… 

✔️ Cite stats, numbers, and research when you have them! 

✔️ Clearly highlight features and deliverables (after you make the emotional connection!) 

✔️ Remove the perceived risk 

✔️ Demonstrate that ROI, baby! 🤣

So which one(s) of these will you use in your brand and business – to earn more sales? Let me know in the comments below. I’d love to hear what you’re going to leverage. 

First, let’s define “Growing Your Audience.”

In the simplest terms… You need to get your brand, your message, and your content, in front of people who have never heard of you before. This is the “ticket” to audience growth. 

Because audience growth = showing up in front of *new* people who have an interest in what you do. 

So we’re always looking for places where there are existing groups of humans that would be a match. And we’re basically looking for effective and efficient ways to show up for those audiences.  

My personal favorite strategies fall into three main groupings… 

Audience Growth Strategy #1: Paid Advertising  

Let’s start here… just to get the obvious one out of the way, right? 😉

One of the easiest, most scalable methods for reaching new people is the one that’s ‘old as time.’ It’s paid advertising. 

Whether you run ads on social media (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube) or in your local newspaper (or anywhere else), paying to place your messages in front of an existing audience can be wildly effective – when done well. 

The people you want to reach are on Facebook. They’re on Instagram. They’re listening to the radio. They’re reading a magazine… They naturally gravitate to certain places. And you’re inserting some type of content or call to action for those people and inviting them to check out your content and/or offers. 

Side note: When it comes to ads, I have been fortunate to learn from my client and mentor, Scott Oldford. He is an incredible resource when it comes to some really next level advertising methods to get in front of new people. Scott teaches much more than ads, but I surely attribute by knowledge and success with them – to him. Head over here to check out his resources and his brand. (Brand co-created by yours truly! 🤓)

Now… In my business, the best advertising platforms for me have been Facebook and Pinterest… so let me share a bit about my strategies there… 

Growing My Audience with Pinterest Ads (aka Promoted Pins)

I’ve always been a voracious Pinterest pinner, so that may be one reason that I gravitated there when looking at places to pay to promote. 

Plus, the user base on Pinterest tends to be female, which aligns well with my existing audience. Pinners also tend to be more affluent, which generally means they have more discretionary income to invest in their brands. 

But the thing I love most about Pinterest is that it’s a very search-based and intent-based platform. (In fact, it’s the third largest search engine on the internet, second only to Google and Youtube… More on that below.) 

When I promote pins on Pinterest, they tend to reach people who are *already searching* for ideas around brand strategy, brand psychology, entrepreneurship… even brand archetypes. So, rather than interrupting their reason for being on the platform, my ads often actually meet a need that people have right in that moment. Pretty powerful, right? 

So, those are all the reasons I love using Pinterest ads. (If you’d like to learn more about my overall Pinterest marketing strategy and results, check out this Youtube video in which I reveal all! 🎩) 

Growing My Audience with Facebook Ads

Meanwhile… Facebook allows you to get really granular with your audience targeting, which is one of its big strengths. (Pinterest is catching up, but they still don’t offer the segmenting and targeting tools that Facebook does.) 

Overall, my best performing Facebook advertising strategy for reaching new (cold) audiences has been using “lookalike audiences.” Note that this is not a strategy that you can use right out of the gate – because you have to start building your own audience first. But once you have at least 1,000 people in a single country (usually in your email list to start), then Facebook can extrapolate that data and find a million more people who closely resemble your initial audience. 

To use lookalike audiences, I upload my email list to Facebook and then I generate a lookalike audience based on those humans. So, basically Facebook helps me find more people who aren’t in my orbit yet – but behave or look similar to the humans that already are here on my list. (The idea is that those people are more likely to also be interested in me and my content, right?) 

Offer something free to grow your list of leads.

And just a quick note here… Though this isn’t meant to be a deep dive into my Facebook or Pinterest ad strategies, I will share this important piece of the puzzle… 

Offering something of value – for free – has been the best way for me to grow my audience using ads. When someone is brand new to me, and they’ve never heard of me or experienced any of my content, I extend something for exactly ZERO PENNIES!  

This is called a “lead magnet” in marketing speak. 🤓

So, the offer I’m placing there in my ads is literally “no risk.” New people get a chance to “try before they buy” and experience my content and solutions for free. In exchange, I get permission to stay in touch with them via email… where I can have all kinds of other conversations with them. 

(I’ve offered all types of lead magnets over the years. The one that has performed best for me (and resulted in massive audience growth!) is my brand personality quiz. If you want a high-converting lead magnet that grows your audience, list, and sales, you should TOTALLY consider a quiz! You can learn more about that here.)

Okay, ads ads ads! Now that we’ve got THAT covered, let’s move on to strategy #2… 

Audience Growth Strategy #2: Leveraging Other People’s Audiences (OPA!) 

Ads are great, but what if you want a powerful audience building strategy that doesn’t require a big monetary investment on your part? 

Ahhh, I’m so glad you asked, Genius! 

Enter… OPA. Other People’s Audiences. This one might be my favorite… 

Getting in front of other people’s audiences (that are aligned) has been a total winner of a strategy for me – and I know it can be for you, too. 

Here’s how it works: Other entrepreneurs, businesses, media outlets… they have already built audiences. Your goal is to identify those that you can get in front of – without paying money for that privilege. Instead, the currency you’re “paying” with is usually your expertise and some brilliant content. 

There are a few ways that this strategy typically plays out. (This is not an exhaustive list; you can get creative when you pitch these types of win-win arrangements!) 

• You could get interviewed on somebody else’s podcast.
• You could collaborate with another creator to co-create a video on Youtube or IG Live.
• You could pitch yourself for some press or for a TV show appearance. 
• You could propose a guest post on someone’s blog – or even their IG profile. 
• You could get your product or your service highlighted in a magazine or a website that generates editorial content. 
• You could invite others to become affiliates for your courses or offers, so that when sales result, they receive a financial incentive. 

All of these are fantastic ways to get in front of new audiences. 

Now, here’s the key. (Lean in! This is super-important —>) These strategies are relatively time intensive. To make this work, you’ll need to spend time pitching, and then you’ll also need to spend time to create the free content.

So, to get good ROI from OPA (I do love me some good acronyms…🤣), it’s critical that the audiences you get in front of are highly targeted and very closely aligned with your own. 

In fact, it’s ideal to look for audiences who have already invested to be there. For example, if you’re selling consultations and services, you may want to aim to be a guest teacher in somebody’s paid program – one that is complementary to what you sell. If you’re a product-based business, then this might look like getting your product included in a paid gift or monthly subscription box.

In these cases, the audience is highly-invested in being there. As a result, they’re more likely to actually use the product, or to value your service, because they are literally paying to access it. And when people pay, they pay attention. 

And remember… While OPA doesn’t require the big financial spend that ads do, it does require a significant time investment. Because it’s all about relationships. 

The best opportunities will be with entrepreneurs and media outlets that are discerning. So, you’ll need to spend time building trust before pitching – or before they will approach you for collaborations. For that reason, the drawback to an OPA strategy is that it isn’t super scalable. It’s powerful – but not as scalable as ads, for example. 

If you’re interested in getting started with some OPA, here’s what I recommend… 

• Start by creating a list of potential partners for whom a collaboration would be a win-win. 
• Next, start the process of reaching out to them, offering your expertise, and offering yourself as a content creator for their site / program / publication… Be specific about what you’re proposing. Make it easy for them to see the value – and easy to say yes. 
• Lastly, keep at it. This is a little bit of “a numbers game.” The timing won’t always be right, right away. Be sure to pitch multiple people and opportunities, because some will come to fruition – and many won’t. 

Keep at it consistently, because this is a strategy that snowballs over time and works really, really well! 

Okay, moving on to strategy #3… 

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Audience Growth Strategy #3: Creating Content That’s Searchable (SEO)

Oooooo…. I know I keep saying that all of these strategies are “my favorite”… but this one is so potent! 

Over the years, I’ve seen the power of intentionally creating content that has a high “findability” factor. (And, yes, that is the scientific term. 😉) 

But seriously, creating content and placing it where people will FIND it in search… this is one of the most sustainable, easeful audience growth strategies out there. 

That being said, have you ever seen that venn diagram? The one you sometimes see that shows that “fast, cheap, and good” rarely overlap? (Here’s an example of a fun blog post that uses this idea.) 

… Well, the truism that venn diagram illustrates applies here, too. When you use this strategy, it’s often low-cost, and reeeeaaalllly good… but it’s also pretty slow. 

But, did I mention it’s really good? 🤣It may be slow, but using search engines to market is really effective, so I do recommend it if you are in business for the long haul (which I know you are!). 

So, what does this look like? 

We create content – with the express intent of being discovered in search by new audiences. And we optimize it with keywords that are relevant – so that it can be found when people search on places (search engines) like Google, Youtube, or Pinterest. 

This is essentially 95% of my YouTube strategy. I create content on my channel that is optimized for certain keywords. My goal here is for people (who’ve never heard of Kaye Putnam!) to find me when they’re searching for brand-related keywords. I want them to find a specific video, watch it… and hopefully subscribe, binge-watch, and perhaps even follow the calls to action I’ve added – when they want to learn even more from me. 

You can do this on other platforms, too. I mentioned Pinterest above. And, of course, Google is the Big Kahuna of all the search engines. So, I know many entrepreneurs that invest time in making their websites and blogs SEO-friendly for Google (SEO = Search Engine Optimization) – and reap massive rewards over time with that strategy. 

And, to some degree, you can work to increase “findability” – even on visibility platforms that aren’t technically search engines. There are methods of creating content that is more viral than others. 

(Hat tip to my dear friend, Katya Varbanova, who has a membership in which you get access to a system and templates that help you create content on social – like Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn – that is graphic-based and designed for virality.) 

Which audience growth strategy will you try next? 

As promised, I spilled the beans on three of the most powerful strategies for audience growth. We covered: 

• Paying for ads on platforms where your people consume content;
• Leveraging other people’s audiences (OPA!); and
• Increasing your own content’s “findability.”  

I hope you’ve been inspired by some of these “behind the scenes” peeks at what has worked best for my brand (and for my clients’ and students’ businesses) to grow an audience of raving fans! 

Which one of these strategies will you lean into next? I’d love to hear your ideas and plans in the comments below! 👇

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1. Build brand authority by building your body of work.

One of the best ways to increase trust – and by extension, brand authority – is to build your body of work. 

When you commit to creating some kind of regular, long form content (like Youtube videos, blog posts, a podcast, or even regular Clubhouse rooms), you’re essentially demonstrating your expertise through free content. 

At its core, this is a way that people can “try you out” before handing you their hard earned cash to deliver whatever outcome you deliver. So your body of work, which is readily available 24/7 (even when you’re not working) essentially serves the purpose of countering people’s objections to buying… 

• Are they concerned about whether you really know your stuff – and are an expert? 
• Do they need to understand *exactly* what results your offers promise?
• Are they wondering if those results are actually possible for them? 

If they aren’t confident about the answers to these questions – and able to trust you and your process – then they won’t invest. Your body of work is there to address those concerns and reassure them. 

It also bears mentioning here that repetition in your body of work builds trust, too. A lot of entrepreneurs who create (and repurpose!) content worry about repeating themselves. This comes up when we want to tell the same impactful stories, use the same concepts, and even re-use the same pieces of content in different places. 

But, Genius, please know this… Repetition is actually reassuring to people. IF they even notice that you’ve repeated yourself in multiple places (and it’s a big IF; because most people do not see everything you create), this is only a positive. It helps people see that you are consistent and steadfast – and actually reinforces your messages. (Not quite convinced? 😉 To read more about the psychological facts that back this up, hop over to this post!) 

The impact of your content is massive – and it snowballs over time. So don’t wait. Start now! Like, today! (Well, right after you finish this article…🤣) Start producing content so that you can show people what you know – so they will trust and buy from you faster. 

2. Build brand authority by curating and showcasing results. 

A second way to build your brand authority online is to capture and share the results that you are getting with your paid clients. 

If you’re in a numbers-driven field, screenshots of metrics work really well. For example, if you’re a Facebook Ad Manager, or help to increase website traffic with SEO, show the numbers when you have them! All of that triggers trust in your ideal client’s minds. 

You can also use more qualitative results – like testimonials, reviews, and clients talking about the results they have experienced with you – in their own words. 

In the biz, we often call this “social proof.” It’s super-powerful because as humans, we are very social animals. And it’s not just because we enjoy the company of other humans… It’s actually hard-wired into us to seek the safety of numbers. And that’s because our ancestors were literally safer from prey, the elements… everything… when they were in packs. 

(Think about the restaurant that has all the positive reviews on Yelp. If your mother-in-law-to-be is in town and you’d like to take her to a restaurant that will be reliably good, that one feels safer, right?)

So we’re looking to see if other people – particularly people that look and sound and seem like us – have gotten good results with something, before we buy. If we see evidence of that, we automatically feel like it’s a safer bet. We automatically are more trusting of that thing – or that person we are buying from. 

To create that “social safety” people crave, regularly gather and showcase your results – via numbers, stories, testimonials, reviews, screenshots of positive results your clients experience… 

One of the ways to do this is simply to get in the habit of asking your clients for testimonials – and to share those directly. But even if we haven’t had a client in our own online business yet, you can still leverage this strategy. We’ve all done things that have proven some kind of result. 

Maybe you’re a new web designer, and you haven’t been responsible for building a site yet – soup to nuts. But, you can draw on client experiences from when you were a graphic designer and designed ads for the agency you worked for, right? 

Or maybe you’re a life coach, and you’re currently seeking your first clients for your 1:1 coaching offer. Here you could highlight testimonials from employees whom you hired, supervised, and mentored (ahem… coached! 👈🏻) in your corporate career. 

And that Facebook ads specialist? What if she’s brand new and has no numbers to showcase yet? She could point to the dramatic increases in sales she helped clients achieve with direct mail – in her previous career. (She knows how to get people to take action on ads!) 

So be creative, and draw on your past successes and past results, too. Then, as you begin to work with more people in your current chosen container, you can also highlight those results. 

(Psssst… for some inspiration about how to incorporate client results into your content, you may want to check out the series I have here on my blog – Brand New Brand Success Stories!) 

3. Build brand authority by borrowing some from a third party! 

The third way that you can build brand authority online? It’s a little bit more involved, but it’s powerful! You can essentially “borrow” some authority from a third party. 

So testimonials kind of are gray in between showing results and then this borrowed authority, because somebody else is speaking up on your behalf. But there’s other ways to do this too even before you have testimonials or in addition to your testimonials or reviews. 

Here are several, diverse examples of this strategy. 

You could showcase the different press outlets where you or your brand have been featured. You’ll often see more advanced entrepreneurs have a “media bar” with logos of all of their best PR placements. It’s a common practice, because it really works. If you’ve appeared in Forbes – or a trusted niche pub that I pay attention to, I consider you a bit more legit, right? 

You could cite research that’s been done about your industry or your particular method of doing things. I did this in this article above. I stated that humans are wired to trust consistency and repetition. In case you weren’t sure you trusted me yet, I linked you to some science on it! 

You could quote celebrities if they’ve talked about the type of thing that you sell. If you’re selling green juice and you include a quote from Gwyneth Paltrow about how she starts every morning with her green juice, this creates some borrowed authority. (Note: Gwynnie didn’t say she drinks *your* juice. So it’s not a testimonial, but rather an association you are inviting your audience to make.) 

You could also mention the places where you went to school, got certified or trained, or learned from an expert in your industry. Again, here you highlight your own qualifications, and align your reputation with that of the institutions that trained you. Amy Porterfield often mentions that she worked for and learned from Tony Robbins – and that adds to her cred on these streets big time! 

You could post those selfies you took with Gary Vee! This one’s a little bit cheesy, but you could also show yourself simply in association with famous people in your industry…. so photos of you at conferences, or with your more famous clients… It is a little bit eyeball-roll-worthy, but it shows that you’re in the “in crowd,” right? And it does have a psychological effect on people. 

Lastly, whenever you’re interviewed or being featured in front of somebody else’s audience, it has an authority building effect, too. So always, always, (always!!!) share that interview with your audience. It shows that you are an in-demand expert, that people value your opinion, and that you are trusted by others to be a resource.

So there you have it… three wildly effective ways to increase your brand authority online! 

Did you find this article helpful? Did you get an idea that you’re going to implement? If yes, please share it in the comments! I’d love to know which one of these three strategies you plan to use next in your brand….

Will you continue to build your body of work? 

Are you going to show your results more often? 

Are you going to leverage some borrowed authority to demonstrate your role as trusted expert? 

These efforts will help position you as the leader that you are, build that powerful brand trust among your ideal audience, and help you make sales happen faster.

Trust me. 😉

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First things first: Ideal audience clarity is always evolving.

Before I share these four powerful “know your audience” tactics, I need you to make two shifts in your mindset about this entire exercise. 

First, we need to frame this as an ongoing process – not a “one and done” thing. 

If you come at these market research-y things thinking you need the exact perfect answers… then you’re setting yourself up for failure and disappointment. Full stop. 🤚🏾

Even after years in business, I still learn more about my ideal clients and my audience every. single. day. My understanding of what they want, what they need, their challenges and their most pressing desires?… It’s always improving and evolving. 

I’m always getting more clarity. 

Every single time I interact with somebody I’m learning more. And I’m incorporating that new insight into my messaging and my sales pages… and into the products that I develop to serve them. It’s an ongoing process. 

So even if you’re currently thinking something like…

💬  “I’m just in the beginning.”

💬  “I’m mid-shift and I don’t know these answers!”

💬  “I thought I knew my person, but now this new information has emerged… Is it okay to pivot?” 

… or anything like that!…

Understand that clarity is ongoing and comes with time. Know that it’s completely normal for these things to change and evolve. 

Oh, and this. 👉🏼 👉🏼 👉🏼 That’s how every entrepreneur does it… (whether they admit that or not!) 😉

Okay, the second shift I need you to make? It’s coming in hot… 😘 

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Ideal audience work is like dating. 

My hubby and I recently celebrated our 10-year wedding anniversary, so it’s admittedly been a long time since I’ve been on a first date. However I do (embarrassingly!) remember a point in my dating life when I made “the list.” 

Writing a “perfect partner” wish list is relatively popular dating advice, from what I’ve heard. You list all the attributes of your ideal person – so you’ll know them when you see them.

So mine looked like this… 

✔  I wanted him to be athletic. 

✔  I wanted him to be smart. 

✔  I wanted him to be kind.

✔  Oh and funny. 

✔  And adventurous, too. 

✔  And I wanted him to buy me flowers and small treats.  

(There was more. 🤪) 

Looking back, knowing what I know now – and having now been with my ideal amazing partner for the last 10 years – that list is honestly a liiiiiiiittle laughable. 

It was actually a pretty good exercise, because it did help me get clear on my values and desires. But it didn’t end up being an *exact* preview of my future partner. In reality, my husband is so much better than any person I could have imagined in that early stage. (xoxoxo, B! 😘) 

And the same thing is going to happen when you write out these “ideal client avatars” for your business. You’re making a lot of assumptions at first. You’re just guessing, essentially. But that gets you ready for the second step – where the real clarity comes. 

That second step? It’s to just go out on dates with a bunch of people…. Errrrr… I mean, work with a bunch of different people. 😉

Work with some people that fit your ideal client avatar, sure. 

Also, work with some people that don’t fit it – on purpose!  

Basically – just like with dating – you don’t want to be overly-picky when you’re first starting your brand. Because you’re going to get so much intel from just interacting with real, live humans. You’ll learn so much – beyond just the four corners of your theoretical list. 

And, as your business changes… as you release new programs… as you get interested in different and adjacent topics… Your ideal audience will also change over time. It will continually be morphing and evolving – and that’s okay. 

So with all of that said… and now that we’ve busted the myth of the perfect, permanent ideal client avatar… 😉, let’s get into the four strategies that I use – to learn about and know my audience. 

1. Have lots (and lots) of conversations.

I list this one first for a reason. If you do only one thing after reading this, do this!  Have as many real, live conversations as possible. 

For me, this is the number one way that I learn what people think, need, and want from me. 

Every time I get on the phone, a Zoom call, a sales call, a market research call… I gain clarity.  Even when I’m being interviewed by other peers or potential clients (for example on podcasts), I find ✨GOLD ✨  in those conversations. 

So find ways that you can get on a call, get on a video chat with more of your ideal clients… However you need to do it – do that! 😀 This could mean offering free coaching calls or free strategy calls. Or you could just reach out to people to get to know them – positioning the conversation more as a coffee date, for example. 

And, here’s a hack for you… I have Google docs called “Copywriting Inspiration” and physical notebooks that I keep next to me at all times. (And I suggest you do, too!) 

It’s basically a bank of words and phrases that people are using. 

Every time I’m on a call, I’m jotting down information about what people’s pain points are, what their challenges are, how they describe the product or service that I offer, etc. 

I also record – in their own words – what their big visions and desires are. What gets them excited? What do they want? And all of that is INCREDIBLE intel that can be incorporated into my offers and my messaging. 

So keep records of aaaalllll of these amazing gems that people are just dropping on you. That way, when you’re creating offers, writing Instagram or Facebook posts, your product sales pages, your emails…  you can draw from your bank. You can meet them where they’re at and truly connect. 

2. Practice social listening online.

The second thing I suggest – to help you know your audience – is to put your Sherlock Holmes hat on and be a keen observer online. 🕵🏼‍♀️

There are so many places online where entrepreneurs are sharing their experiences. Facebook groups are the first place I go – and they are massive treasure troves of ideal audience insights. 

✔  People post authentic, real, in the moment questions – which show us what they need. 

✔  They post celebrations – which show us what they desire more of. 

✔  They post challenges – which show us what they struggle with.  

(Of course, they also post a LOT of sales content – or content aimed at connecting with people who will potentially invest in their service. This is the norm, so be prepared to wade through that, too!) 

And here’s another hack for you… When “listening in” on Facebook, I typically use the “Save Post” function (three dots in the upper-right of the post, currently.) I save posts to a category I created called “Copywriting Inspiration.” Then I can go back to that whenever I’m writing a product page – or if I’m stuck for content ideas. 

You can also start your own Facebook group, if that fits with your strategy. When you create and maintain a community full of your ideal client-types, it can become a great resource for your market research. (My free group, the In-Demand Brand Mastermind, is one of the first places I got to observe my audience’s questions, needs, desires.)  

And, lastly, Facebook is great for this… but there are many other places you can head to listen in. LinkedIN, Clubhouse, even Twitter… all great places to be a fly on the wall and get those juicy insights! 

3. Conduct surveys. (Sometimes.)

I’ll start this one with a big ol’ caveat… This is not my favorite tactic. (I’ll explain.) But it can be useful in some situations – so it bears mentioning any time we discuss something related to market research.

Because, a survey is sort of the shortest distance between our two points here. If you want to know what someone thinks or needs – ask them, right? (Well, sort of right. 😉) 

Whenever I’m hosting a new masterclass, a new webinar, a challenge… or if somebody’s just joining my regular email list, I always ask them to complete a short survey. (I use Typeform as a tool for this.) 

And I do value the feedback I get there. BUT, keep this in mind… People are notoriously bad at telling you what their actual desires and pain points are – when you actually ask. 

As humans, sometimes we’re just not very self-aware. And sometimes our conscious mind just skims the surface – while the thing actually driving the ship is our subconscious mind. And it’s hard to articulate what the subconscious mind wants. So we tend to drop pretty quick, cursory answer when “surveyed.” 

Hence, you have to take everything that people self report with a little bit of a grain of salt. And it is likely not going to be as useful as the two tactics above – which are happening in more organic ways. 

So… use surveys if you like them, but just as a *part* of your ideal audience work. Don’t rely on them entirely. 

4. Publish your own content… and observe. 

This last tactic is especially effective – if a little counter-intuitive. But hear me out, Genius!

It seems a bit illogical at first, because it requires us to show up and be the focus – rather than being the “focus-er.” But it’s critical… 

So publish content. Even if it’s published imperfectly, get YOUR messages out there – and see how they land. 

Before you know who your ideal audience really is, you’ll need to share the things that you’re passionate about – the things that light you up. This may mean you describe a problem that you had in the past. Or stories of your first few client successes. Or your “origin story” and other stories that brought you to where you are now. 

Use your own experience as a guide to create content and to reach out. Start to become visible and present – and then your ideal audience and clients will self-select. If they resonate with who you are and what you’re talking about, they’ll follow you. They’ll pay attention. (If they don’t resonate, then they won’t. And that is A-Okay!) 

Then take note. By paying attention to what content people like from you – and what they are resonating with, engaging with, asking questions about, wanting to know more about… you’ll understand them better.  

So, in conclusion… I use all four of these tactics and techniques in my own business –  to know my audience a little bit better every day!  Each has its own place and time in my brand – and they’re all crucial. 

I hope that this article served YOU well, and will help you to move your brand forward to the next step in your evolution.

In the comments below, let me know which one of these four tactics you are going to focus on next. 

And, if you’re ready for support from me and my team, consider these two ways to take the next steps – WITH us by your side… 

My Brand Advantage program will open up again soon. (If you’re reading this when it’s not open, you can jump on the waiting list to be notified as soon as it is!) 

TBA (short for the Brand Advantage!) is a 30-day brand building sprint that we all do together. In it, we create brand clarity, momentum, and results (quicker than you ever thought possible!) by getting into action on visibility – and focusing on energy management, too. TBA is great for entrepreneurs at all levels.

If you’re more advanced, and you’re ready to take your defined brand and amplify it – to get better results – then consider applying for my Amplify Accelerator Program. 

Amplify is all about “being your brand” and getting the systems in place to make that happen with ease. In it, you get the expertise and accountability of 1-on-1 work with me and my team, and an in-depth and step-by-step curriculum. And it’s all fueled by the incredible momentum and feedback that comes with an intimate mastermind setting. 

And wherever your path leads you, stay connected with us! Share your brand-building wins and challenges. We always want to hear them. We’re listening! 😉