As a book consultant, I help people from all walks of life with all types of books to get published. But I specialize in helping experts and keynote speakers to write best selling books that help to build their personal brand. I call it honing their “Million Dollar Message.”
Why you need a Million Dollar Message
You may be wondering, why on top of everything else you have in place, you need a signature message. In short, it not only helps you define your value to your potential customers but keeps you focused on exactly WHY you are doing WHAT you are doing. Your message will appeal to your customer’s values and needs. It sounds simple really but sometimes, in amongst the trees, that wood can be very difficult to see.
If you need any encouragement to get your message down on paper, take heed: one of my clients closed a huge $3 million of new business in just one-week – with words alone! He was so ‘on message’ that he also raised approximately $5 million for another startup – again, just with words and without connections or capital. How? He learnt to fine-tune his ‘million dollar message’ and to convey it with true conviction. As the title suggests, the right message could make you a million dollars or, on the other hand, not having it could be losing you millions.
Why have ‘a message?’
You already know you’ve got a great product, have excellent sales people on board (including yourself) and your social media is up and running so why do you need a signature message? Simply put, your message is the quickest way to communicate with and connect with your target audience/ideal customer. These are, after all, the very same people who are waiting for you and your product to come along to solve their agony points.
What would happen if, each time, you make an appearance your message alters? You’ll appear as if you don’t know where you’re coming from and your target audience will be confused.
The great news is that you can use the book planning and writing process to define your signature message and use that book to more clearly establish your authority, and also to create unlimited amounts of concise versions of your message to suit different audiences and mediums, such as Linkedin, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, TV and radio interviews or advertising, newspapers and magazines.
Getting your million dollar message down on paper
When it comes to creating your million-dollar message now is definitely not the time to be wishy washy. You need to convey to your target audience exactly ‘what’ makes you different to your competitors, ‘why’ you are the right fit for them and, to top it off, you need to do it in a memorable way. Often, using your own experiences within your message can add impact and help the customer relate to you on a personal level.
To start developing your million-dollar message begin by asking:
- What is the business/product/service I am offering?
- Why have I created this business/product/service?
- What agony points does my company/business/product solve or seek to help the customer with?
- What is the problem that I solve for my ideal target customers?
You see, the mistake most of us make is that we think we are selling a product – but people buy on emotion and justify with logic. We are actually selling a solution to a problem, and when we shift our focus from selling to serving (or solving), we connect with our prospects much more easily, with less friction and more trust.
If, for example, you were launching an online weight loss consultancy service you might answer like this:
- What is the business/product/service I am offering?
I offer a personalized, online weight loss consultancy.
- Why have I created this business/product/service?
I was once grossly overweight so I know how difficult it is to find a weight loss consultancy that is backed by qualifications and knowledge. As a result, I became an expert in Nutrition and Health Sciences and I created my own weight loss progam that worked for myself and others. I lost a lot of weight and have maintained my ‘ideal weight’ ever since – for over 15 years.
- What agony points does my company/business/product solve or seek to help the customer with?
I offer weight loss advice based on qualifications, knowledge and continuous education – not on gimmicky elimination diets or expensive food services. My service is personalized and tailored to the individual customer and their individual needs (health, age, fitness expectations and abilities) and requirements. I offer weight loss consultations to people all over the world through online trainings, regardless of their location.
Looking back at the responses above, you can see that you’ve not only explained what your business does but pinpointed how it has a personal connection and value with the target audience. Adding an emotional reason that your customer can relate to (in this case how you were once overweight and therefore understand the customer) is an effective way to create a connection and ‘stand out’ from the crowd.
Your message, which will be crafted from information like what’s above, not only answers the WHY and the WHAT but taps into the target audience’s emotions – that’s what makes it a million-dollar message. Never underestimate the value in connecting emotionally with your customer. It sells.
Perfecting your message
There’s no doubt that your message will take time to perfect, especially as it will need to be adjusted over time. Therefore, don’t wait for it to be 100% perfect before you go out there and share or you’ll never get beyond it being on paper. Realistically, you will need to tweak your message as your business progresses. Consider it as organic – tend to it over time and be prepared to prune, tether and grow…
In the example above I will condense my answers into one sentence, such as:
I (name), bring qualified weight loss counselling to you – wherever you are and whatever your story. I know it’s hard. I’ve been there too.
When you are asked to appear at seminars, be interviewed for TV or radio or write a guest post for a website or blog, be prepared to expand on your message.
How to turn that message into a book…
In my free book Author-ize, I take you step-by-step through the process of turning your expertise and experience into a great book. You can get your free copy at https://Author-ize.com.
The main steps are to get clear on
1. Your signature message
2. The outcome you want to provide for your readers
3. The steps you’ll take from the beginning of the book to the end to get them to that outcome.
Getting the structure of your book right is what most people get wrong, and why they can’t finish their books. Once you are clear on the journey that you’ll take your readers on, you can fill in the story and teaching points along the way.
You can dictate your chapters as if you were teaching someone, or you can write them or type them up, or you can have someone interview it out of you and write it up for you.
The main thing is to be really clear on who you are writing the book for and how you want to help them achieve an outcome, even if that’s just telling your story in a way that will inspire others.
At Celebrity Publishers we can help you with the process of crafting your million dollar message, writing your book, getting it edited and designed so that it represents you very professionally and gets your message out to the world.
We can even help you with your marketing and promotions.
You can start with a free copy of my book at Author-ize.com or you can get a copy on Amazon.com, but make sure you sign up for our free trainings and events through our website at Celebrity Publishers.
Taking your message out there…
Once you’ve got your message and book; start planning where to voice it, show it or promote it. Opportunities will present themselves to you very quickly when you start promoting your book, and some of these may surprise you.
Ideal opportunities to get your message out include speaking at libraries, cruises, webinars, conferences, seminars, TV appearances, radio and podcast interviews. If you are going to make an appearance like this, your message will need to be tailored and expanded to reflect your audience. However, having your message in its shortest form down pat and on paper will be a great help (it’s far easier to expand than it is to condense).
I hope you can see why crafting and getting to know your million-dollar message is key. Now’s the time to reap the millions in rewards from getting it right.